Storm outages delay FairPoint unions’ vote

This June 4, 2014 photo shows a Walgreens retail store in Boston. Walgreen Co. _ which bills itself as Americas premier pharmacy _ is among many companies considering combining operations with foreign businesses to trim their tax bills. These deals, called inversions, have raised concerns among some U.S. lawmakers over the potential for lost tax revenue. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Weather-related power outages have caused some delays on a vote whether to authorize a strike by union employees of telecommunications firm FairPoint.

Workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont had scheduled meetings from Friday through the weekend on the vote. Their contract ends Aug. 2. Negotiations started in April.

Mike Spillane of the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Vermont told Vermont Public Radio it now appears the vote count won’t be completed for another week. He said ongoing outages have prevented workers from attending meetings where the votes are held. He said workers in New Hampshire were affected, too.

Also voting on a strike authorization is the Communications Workers of America.

The company said service to customers will continue if there is a strike.